Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to share the words of the grade 6 students from Auburn South Primary School, who believe that gambling is a huge problem and that we need to do more about it. I agree with them. They wrote to me and said:

Australia's gambling crisis is terrible. We know the government has added disclaimers at the end of gambling ads. But we think that isn't enough…

It might be a good idea if you make ads dedicated to educating people of all the negative effects of gambling. We think this would have a much bigger impact than just a short disclaimer.

Australians lose more money through gambling than the government spends on aged care—which is quite a hefty amount.

That's true. They continued:

If we keep going down this path it will affect and ruin a lot of people and families. Then Australia will just be known around the world as vegemite lovers and addicted gamblers.

I don't have any drama with being thought of as a Vegemite lover, but none of us want us to be thought of as a nation of addicted gamblers. To finish, this is what the kids said to me:

We would like you to try and push for more government funding towards educating people about the effects of gambling on themselves and their loved ones. We want a proactive effort before it's a reactive effort.

I thank the students from Auburn South for their powerful advocacy, and let me pledge to them that I will continue working on your behalf and push the government on this really important issue.

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